Tuesday, May 19, 2015

60th Anniversary Trip, Pt. 5: Disneyland Railroad



Before taking the Grand Circle Tour on the Disneyland Railroad, we will be taking a detour on an attraction that I haven't been on since October 2011. Back in Critter Country you'll find the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a dark ride that probably belongs in Fantasyland, but instead, unceremoniously kicked out the Country Bear Jamboree. To rub salt into the wound, this attraction rarely has a line. It's cute, but I will be just fine if I go another four years before boarding the vehicle again.



If you're into hallucinogenic acid trips, this attraction may be the one for you.









Pooh can't get enough of the…honey.



Like its Fantasyland counterpart, Alice, this attraction ends with a birthday party.



I'd never noticed these little bumblebee-elephants before.



Onto more exciting Disneyland adventures, we boarded the train at New Orleans Square/Frontierland:



Although I love the Main Street Train Station, I also love me some Frontierland Depot, too!





Here comes our train!



Tough to photograph as the train speeds along, but worth the effort!





Ready to see the Grand Canyon, Disneyland-style?











Ever notice the rainbow before?





And now we go back...back in time…to the Primeval World!









This winged beast is a little too close to the window; scary!



The fabulous flaming finish!



For Daveland reader Amazon Belle, here's a photo comparison of the back side of water. I am guessing that the public reason for the change in the amount of water has to do with conservation.

August 27, 1955:



June 2012; good Lord, who thought of coloring the water green?!?



May 2015:



NEXT UP: Let's head across the Park to DCA!

Steam up your engine and ride on over to my main website for more Disneyland Railroad photos.

9 comments:

  1. Unless you remember seeing it that way, the waterfall might not have been "green".

    Sunlight angles can make a difference on how water droplets show in a camera. One fountain I shot was glowing white from the sunset shining into it...only once I took the photo, the zillions of water droplets were all very clearly purple in the shot.

    Physics can be fun sometimes.

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  2. No physics here, Joe. I saw it. It was green.

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  3. While the Pooh ride might've been more at home in Fantasyland, I'm certainly glad they put it in Critter Country. If placed in Fantasyland it probably would've meant the loss of one of our classic fantasyland dark rides, which I'm way more attached to than Country Bear Jamboree.

    Since Critter Country is a sort of woodland Fantasyland I think a couple of other black light style dark rides would've been cool to add to the mix. Perhaps a Bambi's Forest Adventures dark ride, complete with the seasonal changes in the forest and climatic forest fire.

    I have to say that back view of the Chief on horse with the Mark Twain is awesome! Your effort definitely paid off. Thanks, Dave.

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  4. Your photos of the Grand Canyon Diorama are so great! It is still one of my favorite things at Disneyland, even after all this time.

    And I remember seeing the dyed-green waterfall myself, that was weird.

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  5. Anonymous9:25 AM

    Glad to see they left the Tidy Bowl out of the JC. That dye was sickening.

    Great shots as usual, Dave. Especially Chief Wavy.

    JG

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  6. Great shot of the back of the Indian Chief, especially with the mark Twain in the background. Well done! I'm almost surprised there wasn't a shot of the hidden heads ( Max, Buff and Melvin ) from Bear Country Jamboree inside the Winnie the Pooh ride. ( Agreed, a passable attraction with no line, but something is better than nothing and there isn't much to do in Critter Country. ) You got a good clear shot of the hidden mickey in the clouds at the Grand Canyon, too. Nice!

    I never did get that waterfall business either. I've heard the same rumor, "conservation." How does breaking up the lip of the rock in any way conserve? It's going right back into the same body of water it's pumped out of, right? It doesn't go down a drain somewhere in Anaheim? I can't see how it could be offset by evaporation in any way that would make a difference. There are rather simple ways to disperse a smaller amount of water into a wider fan to give the illusion of a larger waterfall. What they did here always seemed to be the opposite. Even Universal Studios in the 70's had a restaurant by a lake ( with duelling submarine and battleship ) where their "waterfall" was a corrugated metal roof that was perpetually being rained on and draining back into the lake. Small amount of water, wider fan of water dispersal.

    I also recall green dyed water on numerous occasions. I like Ken's idea of a Bambi-themed shooting gallery for Critter Country.

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  7. Thank you Dave for adding the comparison shot. Fifthrider is correct. Unless something has changed, the water is pumped out of the river and recycled over the falls (thus the green color of the falls... which would happen on occasion the week they dyed the water). Dave I'm thankful for your full site which gives us even more proof of how much the falls have been reduced. Check it out here Daveland Readers http://davelandweb.com/junglecruise/index2.html#schweitzer. It just seems strange that when Disney gets such a kick at spraying water onto the guests... that the one place this happened naturally (and of course the old Mine Train back in the day), they decide to reduce it.

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  8. Bryan - I attempted a shot of the CBJ trio this time, but when I turned around the vehicle was too tall to see behind me. Not sure if the vehicle changed over the years, but I know I was able to get a photo when the attraction first opened.

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  9. BetsyDrake2:40 PM

    That shot of the Indian Chief and the Mark Twain is gorgeous. Just gorgeous.

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